Oregon Coast Guide: X Marks the Spot for Naturalists

Port of Call: Bandon

Stay

THERIVERHOUSEriverhousebandon.com; from $195 As one of only 16 edifices to survive the Bandon fires of 1914 and 1936, this 106-year-old building—a former men’s store transformed into a chic five-bedroom rental—gives guests a unique perspective on Bandon’s commercial history. And the spectacular harbor view from the tub upstairs grants a glimpse of what Bandon trades on today: natural beauty.

Eat

ALLOROWINEBARallorowinebar.com Ready for a respite from the fish-and-chips and chowder shops? Step inside Alloro and slide into Italy with handmade pasta dishes that use local, seasonal ingredients in dishes like the orecchiette (little ear pasta, Italian sausage ragù, tomatoes, and black truffles) and a glass filled from Alloro’s excellent list of Italian and Northwest wines. Or combine the best of both worlds in a bowl of cacciucco, Tuscan-inspired fish stew.

BANDONBAKING CObandonbakingco.com Carb-load for a day of hiking or kayaking at this 13-year-old bakery. Known for its scrumptious cinnamon rolls, Bandon Baking, with its fully stocked pastry cases, promises plenty of ways to pack a few rewards for a long day on the trail (our preferred prize: the cranberry nut bread).

Do

CAPEARAGOoregonstateparks.org The signs leading to Cape Arago Highway are easy to miss, but the spectacular scenery along this 13-mile stretch of road is impossible to forget. For the best perspective, head to Shore Acres State Park. Here a solitary bench planted along the cliffs affords a dramatic picture of the Pacific unleashing its fury against the stone leviathans rising—hunchbacked and wave-lashed, like some great prehistoric beasts—from the turquoise sea. Mere steps away, inside Shore Acres’ gates, immaculately manicured formal gardens present a juxtaposition of beauty in which order reigns supreme.

NEWRIVERAREA OF CRITICALENVIRONMENTALCONCERNblm.gov/or “New” is a relative term when you’re talking geological time. This nine-mile-long, kayakable river was formed in 1890 when a flood carved a new channel in the dunes from Floras Creek to the Pacific. Today, four miles of trails crisscross the area’s 1,200 acres of pine and conifer forests, meadows, and dunes—a diversecollection of habitats that support everything from bald eagles to pied-billed grebes and western snowy plovers.

COQUILLEPOINTOREGONISLANDSNATIONALWILDLIFEREFUGEfws.gov/oregoncoast Bandon’s four magnificient golf courses draw a particular breed of outdoorsman, but Coquille Point, the headland overlooking Bandon’s signature sea stacks, poses an opportunity for a different kind of birdie: specifically the common murres, tufted puffins, and Brandt’s cormorants who live along this protected stretch of sand.

Creature Watch

Oregon Coast Aquarium director of animal husbandry Jim Burke introduces us to some common, friendly (yes, really) species of the deep.

SEA NETTLE JELLYFISHWith tentacles reaching between six and eight feet, these jellies typically keep to deeper waters, but occasionally—during a storm or heavy tide—they’ll wash up along the beach. Live ones (ones that look shiny and gelatinous) still sting, so watch where you tread.Fear not: These jellies fire stinging cells from their tentacles to paralyze prey. Fortunately, the worst effect in humans is an itchy rash (best neutralized with vinegar).

GIANT GREEN ANEMONESThese plantlike, neon-green tentacled critters, which grow in the rocky parts of tidepools, get their color from algae cells in their tissue. When the anemones aren’t catching crabs and shrimp, the cells kick in, photosynthesizing for a backup food source. Fear not: Anemones might cling to your finger if you touch them, but that’s about it.

SALMON SHARKSThe salmon shark, which gets the name from its meal of choice, is commonly mistaken for a great white shark. But salmon sharks only grow to be about eight to nine feet—about half the size of their more infamous, man-eating cousins. They give birth near the shoreline during mid to late summer, so coastgoers occasionally see the young pups who don’t survive wash up on the beach. Fear not: While they look scary, salmon sharks pose no real threat to humans. In fact, not a single salmon shark attack has ever been reported in Oregon.

Natural Treasures

North to South

ECOLA STATE PARK(Cannon Beach) oregonstateparks.orgExplore this quintessential Oregon coast park’s 1,024 acres by foot: eight miles of trail wind through the Sitka spruce forest growing atop Tillamook Head, including a 1.5-mile-long path that delivers you to Indian Beach, where surfers paddle out to take in a different view.

SITKA CENTER FOR ART & ECOLOGY(Otis)sitkacenter.orgAdjacent to the wild, craggy Cascade Head and overlooking the Salmon River estuary from a lush grove of Sitka spruce, the Sitka Center affords no shortage of natural inspiration to its visiting artists. Founded in 1970, the center is now a cluster of woodsy art studios and living spaces to which artists, writers, and naturalists flock from around the world for workshops and residencies that explore everything from artwork in the Siletz estuary to sand painting and sculpting sea bowls.

DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL(Newport) oregonstateparks.orgNature shows off her perpetual spin cycle at this favorite Newport-area picnic and whale-watching spot, where waves funnel through a rock formation—believed to be collapsed sea caves—creating a bubbling, foamy sea stew. And even if you forget to pack a bite to eat, coast chowder champ Mo’s has handily established an outpost here with windows overlooking the Pacific’s washing machine.

CAPE PERPETUA(Yachats)www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslawFrom the top of the 803-foot Cape Perpetua, the coastline looks like a burnt cookie, with giant basalt bits crumbling into the sea. Follow the 2.6-mile St. Perpetua Trail down to the water’s edge, where easily accessed tide pools grant portals into another world. Surrounded by the constant crash of waves—a kind of sea-size white noise—you can lose hours peering into these watery, colorful otherworlds.

DEAN CREEK ELK VIEWING AREA(Reedsport) blm.gov/orA herd of about 100 Roosevelt elk call this wide, grassy expanse along the Umpqua River home. And who can blame them? What with the fir-covered peaks standing guard over a gently bending river as it tumbles quietly toward the sea, we’d want to live here too. But we’ll settle for being guests, content to ogle the residents in their living room.

ALFRED A. LOEB STATE PARK(Brookings) oregonstateparks.orgOregon isn’t anti-Californian. For proof look no further than Alfred A. Loeb State Park, where a grove of the Golden State’s signature redwoods—the only examples of the species in Oregon—dot the shores of the slate-blue Chetco River. A ramble along the three-quarter-mile interpretive Redwood Loop Trail here will leave you properly neck-craned, slack-jawed, and humbled.